Beretta PX4 Storm Compact Review
A mini review by Deon Storm.
It seems to me that quite a few shooters are beginning to see the excellent potential of the PX4 Storm Compact and the viability of the DA/SA trigger system for EDC.
I got interested in the PX4 Compact when I decided that I want to seriously try out AIWB EDC and I realised that I was not comfortable AIWB carry a striker fired pistol.
My interest and research led me to a couple of recent articles/reviews of the PX4 Storm Compact (I will refer to it as the PX4C) and after reading them all I decided that I had to closely look at one to see for myself why people are starting to talk about this gun.
These are my observations and thoughts and to not bore you I am not going to try to do another review and say basically the same that the other reviewers are saying anyway. So here are some of my thoughts on the sleeper EDC gun of 2016.
The Different “Types” of PX4 pistols.
The PX4C available in South Africa, and it seems most anywhere else, is the Type F which is DA/SA with Decocker and Safety feature.
The Type F decocker lever will decock the hammer and automatically move into the safe position. If one does not want the pistol to be in the safe position for carry one has to flip the “safety” lever up. Leaving the lever in the safe position results in a trigger which moves a full arc when pulled but does not activate the hammer, so it is basically inert.
The decocker/safety has a very interesting mode of operation which is made possible by a two-piece firing pin. The rear portion of the firing pin is contained in the safety lever bar and when the safety lever is activated the rear portion of the firing pin rolls with the safety lever so that the hammer cannot make contact with the firing pin. When the hammer is decocked the rear portion of the firing pin has rolled with the safety lever and is not aligned with the forward portion of the firing so it is impossible for the hammer to hit on or activate the firing pin. When the safety lever is flip up the rear and forward portions of the firing pin align again.
The Type G is a DA/SA Decocker only setup.
Type D is a DA only version with no safety and no decocker.
Type C is a modified DA only version with no safety and no decocker. The “C” apparently stands for or refers to “Constant Action”. The Type C differs from the Type D in that it the hammer rest in the half cock position for each shot and therefore has a lighter and shorter DA trigger pull because the hammer spring is already under some tension.
The Type G Conversion.
There are 2 ways to convert the Type F to a Type G decocker only operation. The first is to replace the Type F safety lever with the Beretta Low Profile Type G decocker levers (Part# E00348). The second is to convert the Type F lever to a decocker only mode of operation by removing the ball detent in the safety lever shaft. A “How To” video clip is available and I added the link below for those who may be interested in doing the change, which by the way I recommend.
The sample model PX4C that I am testing has been converted to a Type G with the Type G only Low Profile decocker lever kit. This is my personal preference. An added benefit of upgrading to the Low Profile Type G levers is that the levers are the same width as the slide width and they shave off 6mm from the overall slide width of the PX4C with the Type F Safety/Decocker levers.
Trigger stuff.
Out of the box the trigger pull weights on this gun are approximately 9.75lb DA and 6lb SA on this PX4C. I did several trigger pull checks on the scale and worked on an average of 10 tests and discarded the highest and lowest pull weights that I recorded.
By replacing the standard hammer spring with a Wilson Combat Chrome Silicon 12lb Beretta 92 hammer spring the DA trigger pull came down to 7.75lb and the slight drop of about 0.5lb on SA.
I found that with the standard hammer spring the DA trigger pull is decent and smooth and with the replacement Wilson spring I find the DA trigger pull to be really excellent and smooth.
I have tried a few DA/SA pistols in the last 2 years (HK USP, CZ75, CZ P-01, CZ SP-01, CZ P-07, Sig Sauer 2022) and find the standard PX4C DA trigger to be very good and the DA with the 12lb Wilson Combat hammer spring to be outstanding.
Beretta also offers a replacement competition trigger pack that is a drop in upgrade of the hammer and sear module. The upgrade lowered the SA trigger pull to 4.5lb and very slightly reduced the reset travel. All in all, I do not think it is worth the expense to upgrade to the competition trigger kit for a SD gun. In respect of the reduced power hammer spring I have the opposite opinion and see the upgrade as completely worthy of the expense for the benefit it provides. A Glock Ghost trigger shooter and M&P Apex trigger shooter will probably find the reset on the PX4 longish but coming from those platforms I had no issue adapting to shooting the PX4C fast and reliably, probably because I never in the past consciously tried to shoot to reset on any pistol except for hard concentration long distance shots, which are for me 20 metres and out.
Sights.
The standard 3 dot sights have been replaced with Trijicon HD sights. I found the rear sight on the PX4 very difficult to move and remove. It seems that the MOE rear sight is set in place with some sort of a glue, the bonding of which must be cracked to get the rear sigh to move. I used a Beretta sight setting tool and it took a lot of force to get the rear sight off. Installing the Trijicon sights was easy and effortless and it required no filing or sanding to fit. Some people and Lucky Gunner reported that they were shooting a few inches high with the HDs but on my gun and shooting the HDs I could not find any issue with it shooting high at 5 and 7 metres. Shots were poa/poi for me (I will do some more tests at 10, 15 and 20 to see what the HDs do). Maybe Trijicon did a specification change to the PX4C HD sights or maybe some people got the PX4 Full Size HDs instead of the PX4 Compact HD’s that could possibly explain why I am getting good results with the HDs and some other shooters not so much.
Observations.
The frame grip texture is too smooth imo and it should be upgraded with grip texture like Talon Grip Rubber or some stippling.
The PX4C is a soft shooting 9mmP pistol and it tracks very well under recoil and is quick back on target for very fast follow up shots. There are lots of reviews and video clips on how the PX4C shoots so I can only add what the other shooters say about the ease of shooting the PX4 holds true in my opinion.
I am working with the importers of Beretta to get the optional Beretta accessories in stock and available to those who may want to do upgrades to their PX4’s. I have already managed to get some of the Wilson Combat Chrome Silicon hammer springs and they are available at Hailstorm for around R160.00 each VAT included.
Ernest Langdon’s journey with the Beretta PX4 Storm Compact and lots of pages of experiences and info can be read here on the Pistol Training Forum:
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?16519-The-PX4-Compact-might-be-my-DA-SA-Glock-19
Ernest shooting the PT F.A.S.T Drill with the PX4C:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGJZRapjzOo
Reviews – Some more reading and looking here:
http://www.gunnuts.net/2015/08/17/ernest-langdon-and-the-beretta-px4/
http://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/review-beretta-px4-compact-part-1/
http://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/beretta-px4-compact-review-part-2/
Converting the Type F levers to Type G decocker only operation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWc6i506oEQ
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